Former Budget Watchdog Page Says Ottawa Can’t Rag the Puck on NATO 2035 Spending Math

Former Budget Watchdog Page Says Ottawa Can’t Rag the Puck on NATO 2035 Spending Math
File photo—Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks with members of the Canadian Armed Forces in Adazi, Latvia on Aug. 27, 2025. The Canadian Press/Christinne Muschi
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Former federal spending watchdog Kevin Page remains unconvinced by the prime minister’s explanation of why Ottawa hasn’t yet presented a fiscal road map to meet the new NATO spending commitments.

Page, who was Canada’s first parliamentary budget officer and now heads the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at the University of Ottawa, said Ottawa has been not fiscally transparent with its math. He said Canada must soon show how it plans to significantly ramp up defence spending through to 2035.